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Friday, January 20, 2017

Friday, January 13, 2017

I swear I didn't plan it. 17 goals in '17 was just destiny. I jotted down my hopes and dreams for the year in my journal and there just happened to be 17. Okay? Okay. Here's what I've got for now...

General

Clean off my desk. Not just literally, but also I want to tackle organizing all the papers. Owning a small business mean lots of papers. Right now, they are not sorted the best. Well, they aren't sorted well at all.

Just get rid of it. I read the famous Marie Kondo's first book about decluttering your home and all that jazz a couple years ago which sparked something in me.. and not just joy (get it? get it?) I started to get rid of stuff and it felt good. We have moved several times in our seven years of marriage and we moved a lot of stuff we should have gotten rid of many moons ago. I've since read Simplicity Parenting (great book!) among other similar books, joined minimalist facebook groups, and listened to podcasts on simplifying one's life. I am totally transforming into a minimalist, more so with every unnecessary item I get rid of. I want to continue down this path this year.

Stitches. Not on my body, I've done that a couple times.. no need to repeat. I want to get back to sewing, something I have not done much of lately. I think as soon as I diminish my craft supplies (see previous goal) it will be a lot more inviting and fun.

Clean Routine. I kinda feel like I've had this goal for... forever. But perhaps this will be the year my inner housekeeping goddess shines.. should she exist. Having wee ones has always just caused me to try to keep my head above the water, usually not successfully. But as they get older and so much better at playing nicely and not right next to me, I just might be able to get into the cleaning groove this year.

Step away from that computer, mam. Just kidding, no one calls me mam. Although I have gotten the kids to call me "ma" while we read the Little House on the Prairie series. And those books are exactly what makes me want to step away from technology. How simple and wonderful life was! I know I cannot replicate it in today's time, but I can certainly embrace some aspects one being less time on Facebook throughout the day. So pioneer-like right? At least I still haven't switched over to a smart phone yet!

Sceen Freedom. Related but not the same as above, this involves the children. The kiddos were screen free for a year and a half and it was awesome! Then we started family movie night (which didn't go well, we always ended up watching My Little Pony because everything else was too scary???) and things spiraled out of control and then Mason is begging to play games on the Kindle every hour of the day. Well that is enough of that. I've said "no mas" and for the last week or so there has been no TV or Kindle games and the kids have been almost angelic, making the connection to moods and behaviors to screen time more obvious than ever. So I don't know that we will be screen free completely but closer to that than the "spiraling" times.

Cure cabin fever. We have an awesome pace to life here...no alarm clocks for the most part, home cooked leisurely breakfast, no school bus to catch or practice to be late for or anything like that. I guess Tyler, and I a little bit, do but compared to most modern families we've got a laid back life. It is great.. but.. now that the kiddos are older and don't try to run in 17 different directions when we are out in public I would love to get out and do more with them! I don't want to spend a ton of time (and money) away from home and I want to keep our slow life pace. I just want to have more adventures because I think we are all ready!

Ferment all the things. I have been really slacking on my fermenting lately. Even my kombucha I've been putting off until the last minute (I do have an extra SCOBY if anyone wants to start??) I got great recipe book from my mother-in-law for Christmas and I'm ready to dive in!

Ditch the wrappers. We eat healthy here already, not something I need to change, but I have been buying a lot of snacks lately instead of making my own. I'm perfectly capable so I don't know why I've been slacking.. but that stops now! No more extra waste from Larabar wrappers and applesauce containers when I can easily make my own and use more Earth-friendly storage.

Locavore. That's fancy pants word for eating/shopping/supporting local. I've always loved doing this anyway. No need to buy a box of spinach at the grocery store when I can just go to the farmer's market in town and get it (cheaper and fresher). I'm currently reading Animal Vegetable Miracle and also The Omnivore's Dilemma, they are both hitting home and inspiring me for this goal.

Frequent Earth Gym. I am not a sedentary person by any means. Laundry, dishes, and following the messes of three tornadoes keeps me moving throughout my days. But, I could stand a little extra thumping of my ol' ticker now and again. I don't want to buy a treadmill or anything like that, but I bet I can find plenty of things to do outside that will add to my health and the quality of this farm.

Homestead

Mobilize and fertilize. What can I say? I'm a Justin Rhodes wannabe. I love his style of moving his birds to increase soil fertility. Our pasture needs this! Now, to convince my husband we need a mobile electric fence...

Here comes Peter Cottontail. I could actually do with less Cottontails (those guys ruin gardens) think more domestic. I have been back and forth on the whole meat rabbit idea.. I love so many things about them, but what it all comes down to is can I kill them? They are so much more cute and fluffier than chickens. I've been thinking maybe an Angora rabbit would be a good start. There would be no eating involved but it would supply wool and some nice poo for the garden. Pretty sure I can talk my kids into this being their project.

Prepare for the pigs. Okay, we don't have any plans of pigs arriving here (yet). But we know we want some when the time is right and we know where we want to put them and that area is going to take some work. So, we may as well start sooner than later!

Compost. I'm terrible at this. I have a neglected pile and that's all to show for my composting efforts. Maybe vermicomposting would be good? I did order worms once to try it and they died in the mail. At least my chickens, cats, and dog usually take care of most of our scraps. Improvements in my composting efforts, that shall be the goal.

Best garden yet! I got a great garlic harvest last year and tomatoes as well! It was very fulfilling. I harvested other things, but those were my top achievements. I get better at this gardening thing every year, and hopefully 2017 will be no exception!

Greenhouse. Speaking of gardening, I would love to create a greenhouse. Even if it is small and temporary (and cheap), which it will be, I need to just do it! I might even get motivated to to even try cold frames and low tunnels, too!

PS. If you haven't watched aforementioned Justin Rhodes' Vlog you should, it is great! {Here it is}

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Tuesdays here are pretty opposite of every other day of the week. On Tuesdays I head into the restaurant in the morning to do the baking for the week. I make cinnamon rolls, Danish rye bread, pies, cakes, bars.. those sorts of things. It is fun, and I've got to experiment with so many different recipes. We've got our staples, but I get to mix it up, too.
While I am doing that, Tyler stays home with the kiddos--his one day off. They love this time to play with him, especially since they don't see him often (extremely true in the winter months, aka basketball season). The house is usually reflective of their playing when I get home, but that doesn't bother me so long as they got their fun time in with their Dad.
Tuesdays are opposite because most other days, Tyler is at work. He basically wakes up in the morning, gets ready, starts the car (and tends the chores while he's outside), says goodbye and heads into the restaurant. In the afternoon, he comes home for 3.5 minutes while he changes into basketball practice clothes to go do his coaching for the day 20 miles in the opposite direction. After practice he heads back into the restaurant to see through the day to closing and then stays late to finish any prep he didn't get done earlier in the day. Lately I've been going to bed before he even gets home at night. That guy has been working hard.
So, you see why the kiddos are always excited to play with Dad? He took three whole days off from coaching and we closed the restaurant over Christmas. Guess who was sick for those days and pretty much didn't move off the couch? Yep.. well executed random virus. Well executed.

Last Tuesday I came home from work (feels funny to call it that, but I suppose it is) and Tyler left for a basketball game. Mason took his drone outside to do a little outside flyin'. Well, it flew. And flew... right over the silos and into the field. That little thing speeded out of our sight in about four seconds flat. We got our search party together and headed in that direction. Well, the search party kinda turned into playing/exploring/digging for treasure party so we didn't find it. (No worries, Grandpa did some more successful searching the next day). But we did have a great time outside, seems like we hadn't played out in the fresh air forever between everyone taking a turn being sick, holiday get togethers, and really cold, windy weather.
We were a bit late to get in for supper and consequently bed, but it was worth it. All around a great day for the little people of the household. Time with Dad, time with Mom, time outside.. and did I mention chocolate chip cookie dough cake? Yeah, that, too.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

We missed a couple Christmas celebrations this year, a bunch of sickies secured that, so we did a make up with Grandma Deb today. She made the trek to our house with a whole car load of goodies.We had a good time opening gifts, eating some duck, and playing with new toys. I am pretty excited about my new books. I need to get some groceries tomorrow and I've already marked a couple fermentation recipes to try and got the ingredients on my list!

The start of 2017 is as good of time as any to get back into the routine of regularly blogging, right? Too cliche? Oh well.